antipode
by terabient
Summary: FFVI: A collection of one-shot drabbles about Terra/Celes. Shoujo-ai, absurdly fluffy.
1. Alone Together

(if you squint really hard, at the end there is something you might be able to construe as yuri. ;)

* * *

**Alone Together**  


* * *

Celes had always prefered silence. As a general she'd never had much of it, her life filled with the constant cacophany of war. In the war room, on the battlefield, in the infirmaries afterwards - there was no time for silence or contemplation, there was only instinct, the need to act and react.

She'd left that life, chosen a different path. She hadn't found the silence she craved, but she'd discovered sounds just as sweet - a voice raised in greeting, the laughter of friends, the gentle words of a heartfelt apology.

But even now, sitting on a couch inside the Blackjack, surrounded by friends, Celes found herself wishing for quiet, to be able to step back and let the warmth of this precious moment sink into her being.

Celes made her way to the Blackjack's upper deck. Terra was there, watching the world unfold beneath her. Celes came to stand next to her, saying nothing, not wanting to interrupt the other woman's thoughts.

Terra gave her a shy smile, the twist of her lips so slight that Celes wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been so close.

Together, the two women stood in silence and watched the sky.


	2. Storm Warning

(In which liberties are taken with game mechanics. Also there is a dinosaur.)

* * *

**Storm Warning**

* * *

There's no warning before the Tyrannosaur attacks - one moment Celes and Terra are cautiously making their way through the Dinosaur Forest, and in the next Celes is grabbing Terra around the waist and pulling her to the ground, the Tyrannosaur's massive claws cleaving the air where their heads had been only seconds ago.

"You ok?" Celes asks Terra breathlessly, and only receives a hurried nod in return. Above them the Tyrannosaur roars, clawing in frustration at the thick brush hiding the two women. Celes and Terra scurry through the underbrush as quietly as possible; though they are experienced fighters, even they would be ill-advised to take on a Tyrannosaur alone.

The monster pauses, and for a brief moment Celes dares to hope it's given up the chase - a hope that is quickly dashed as the air grows thick and soupy with magic.

"Meteor," Celes gasps, scrabbling frantically for her sword, knowing all the while she won't have the time to dispel the creature's magic.

Terra arches underneath Celes, the touch of her body shocking Celes like a thunderbolt. "Don't worry," Terra says, her soft, gentle voice laced with a deep and ancient power. "Stay close," she continues, and then Terra isn't Terra anymore, she's a star fallen to earth, a storm given form. Celes wraps her arms around Terra's waist and presses close, losing herself in the electric thrill of Terra's Trance.

The thick blanket of magic is heavy and oppressive around them. Terra raises her hands, and the magic parts for her, like the sun's rays burning through storm clouds. Celes feels the earth shake beneath them as Terra's Riot Blade bursts from the earth, encircling them protectively before the glittering blades take flight and shred the Tyrannosaur monster's hideous dying roar vibrates through the air; its fall makes the forest shake around them.

Celes looks to her friend, her body lit and glowing like the sun and crackling with an otherworldly power.

"You haven't been hurt, have you?" Terra asks, in that voice that is her own and not her own, her long, clawed fingers cupping Celes' face. Celes nods somewhat dreamily, intoxicated by the sensation of all that power thruming under Terra's skin, under Celes' hands.

Before she can think of what she's doing, Celes raises her face to Terra's and kisses her hard, her lips tingling like she's kissed the storm itself.


	3. Where Your Heart Is

(Celes, and finding purpose in a shattered world.)

* * *

**Where Your Heart Is**  


* * *

"Will she be all right?"

Celes looks up from tending Terra's grievous wounds and tries to give Duane a reassuring smile. "She'll pull through."

Duane and Katarin exchange worried glances. "Thank you for helping us," Katarin says. "We wouldn't know what to do without Terra here."

Celes nods and turns back to Terra. The sight of Duane and Katarin - their hands clasped together tightly, Duane's arm steady around Katarin's waist - makes Celes think of the youths she'd once commanded in battle.

They had shown her pictures, sometimes, of what they'd left behind to chase the fortunes of war; the sum of their lives captured in a few still images. _This is my girl,_ they'd tell her; _this is my mama, this is my family. This is what's waiting for me back home. _

Celes hadn't paid much attention, then, giving only a nod and vague words of approval in response. Celes had fought because it was her birthright, because she'd been told to, because she did not know how to do anything else. There was no one waiting for her in Vector's cold barracks.

But Celes thinks of those men now, as she stands vigil at Terra's bedside and whispers magic to mend her ruined flesh. Celes thinks of the world outside, broken and bleeding and teeming with monsters from the depths, thinks of little orphans hiding underground and the smile that graces Terra's lips when they call her Mama.

"I'm sorry I can't help you," Terra whispers.

Celes squeezes Terra's hand. "It's alright," she says. "Just - keep a seat at the dinner table for me, ok?"

Terra's eyes widen in delighted surprise. "Oh - always!"

Celes leans close and kisses Terra's feverish brow, her tear-stained cheeks.

This is what waits for her, when her battle is done.


End file.
